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Sexual dimorphism in immune function changes during the annual cycle in house sparrows

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Abstract

Difference between sexes in parasitism is a common phenomenon among birds, which may be related to differences between males and females in their investment into immune functions or as a consequence of differential exposure to parasites. Because life-history strategies change sex specifically during the annual cycle, immunological responses of the host aiming to reduce the impact of parasites may be sexually dimorphic. Despite the great complexity of the immune system, studies on immunoecology generally characterise the immune status through a few variables, often overlooking potentially important seasonal and gender effects. However, because of the differences in physiological and defence mechanisms among different arms of the immune system, we expect divergent responses of immune components to environmental seasonality. In male and female house sparrows (Passer domesticus), we measured the major components of the immune system (innate, acquired, cellular and humoral) during four important life-history stages across the year: (1) mating, (2) breeding, (3) moulting and (4) during the winter capture and also following introduction to captivity in aviary. Different individuals were sampled from the same population during the four life cycle stages. We found that three out of eight immune variables showed a significant life cycle stage × sex interaction. The difference in immune response between the sexes was significant in five immune variables during the mating stage, when females had consistently stronger immune function than males, while variables varied generally non-significantly with sex during the remaining three life cycle stages. Our results show that the immune system is highly variable between life cycle stages and sexes, highlighting the potential fine tuning of the immune system to specific physiological states and environmental conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Eszter Ruprecht, Gergely Osváth and Gábor and Klára Czirják for their help. The Molecular Biology Center of the Babeş-Bolyai University provided technical support for the laboratory work. Rebecca J. Safran kindly corrected our English on a former version of the MS. The experimental procedures were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the relevant Romanian agencies. This study was financially supported by a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant (contract no. 005065) to ZB, OTKA grants (T046661, NF061143 and NF 61143) to ZB and PPL, two research grants (CEEX ET no. 94 to PLP and CNCSIS-UEFISCSU no. PN II-RU TE 291/2010 to PPL and CIV) of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, a Ph.D. scholarship of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research and a CNCSIS research grant (CNCSIS Td 368/2006) from the Romanian National University Research Council to GÁC, a Ph.D. and research scholarship from the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture and the Hungarian University Federation from Cluj-Napoca to CIV, and grants from the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas) to DH. Three anonymous referees have kindly provided constructive criticism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology, University of Debrecen, 4032, Debrecen, , Egyetem tér 1, Hungary

    Péter László Pap, Csongor István Vágási & Zoltán Barta

  2. Department of Taxonomy and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, 400006, Cluj-Napoca, , Clinicilor Street 5–7, Romania

    Péter László Pap & Csongor István Vágási

  3. Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, , Mănăştur Street 3–5, Romania

    Gábor Árpád Czirják

  4. Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), UMR 5174 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse, France

    Gábor Árpád Czirják

  5. Department of Animal Ecology, Lund University, Ecology Building, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Dennis Hasselquist

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  1. Péter László Pap
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  2. Gábor Árpád Czirják
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Correspondence to Péter László Pap.

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Pap, P.L., Czirják, G.Á., Vágási, C.I. et al. Sexual dimorphism in immune function changes during the annual cycle in house sparrows. Naturwissenschaften 97, 891–901 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0706-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0706-7

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